Avial/Mixed vegetables in coconut gravy

Avial, as we all know is a Kerala speciality dish which we Tamilians also make at home. I got this recipe from my sister. She got it from our aunty who is a great cook. I got these delicious kachaudi-dal and Tomato thokku recipes too from her. I am not sure how authentic this recipe is, but it tasted mouth watering delicous. My sister specifically mentioned that adding curd/yogurt to the avial gives it an unique taste. Since I have stopped using dairy prodcuts in cooking, I did not add it. Looks like, tamarind extract would be a good substitute. I did not add both, still it tasted good. I will try adding tamarind extract the next time.

Ingredients for avial to serve 5 adults
Mixed vegetables: 5 cups(white pumpkin is a must, other than that I added carrot, beans, chayote/chow chow and mochai kottai(don't know its English name). Potato, yellow pumpkin, cluster beans(kothavarangai in tamil), sword beans(avarekkai in tamil) etc are few more vegetables that can be added)I think beetroot and mushy vegetables like okra/ladies finger are not preferred)
Coconut Oil: 2 tsp
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup
Tamarind extract: around 1/4 cup(extract from a tsp of tamarind, I haven't tried this yet)
Dried red chilly: 2 to 3 long
Jeera/Cumin seeds: 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves: 10 to 15 leaves
Salt to taste

For seasoning
Coconut oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 5 to 10 leaves

Procedure
1. Clean the vegetables and cut them into 1 to 1 1/2 inch long wedges.
2. Add coconut oil, turmeric powder and curry leaves to the vegatables and mix well.
3. Pressure cook the vegetables(without adding water to the vegetables). Allow just 1 whistle and switch off the stove. Otherwise cook like how we do for idli without putting the "weight". Basically the vegetables should be overcooked.
4. Gring coconut, red chily and jeera in a mixer to a smooth paste(add water if needed)
5. Transfer the vegetables in a pan/kadai and place in the stove on medium heat. If adding tamarind extract, add it now and allow it to cook for around 5 to 10 minutes till the raw smell of tamarind goes away.
6. Add the coconut paste and salt to the vegetables and mix well. Let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Remove from heat.
8. For the seasoning, in a small pan add 1 tspof coconut oil. Add mustard when the oil is hot.When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves. Add this to the avial and mix.
9. Serve with hot rice and papad.

Ginger Juice/Inji kashaayam

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Ginger/Inji kashaayam is my mother's signature home remedy recipe for enhancing digestion and preventing indigestion. I prefer to call it ginger juice rather than kashaayam as its very tasty with the goodness of ginger, jaggery and lemon. My mother used to serve this juice generally after a heavy meal(ususally restaurant food) to prevent indigestion. I also used to be a ghee lover during my school days. When I felt sick due to over eating of ghee, my mother used to give this and I would be alright within few hours. Or just eating a small piece of ginger with a bit of salt coated on it did wonders for me. Sadhana and Muskaan's Home Remedy event gave me a chance to prepare this juice by myself.(ofcourse got the recipe from my mother) Just then I realised how easy it is to make this kashaayam.
Here is the recipe.

Ingredients to make around 3 cups of inji juice(I gues one person can have around 1/4 cup of juice on single serve. I have 1/2 cup. :-))
Fresh Ginger: 50gms(skin removed, washed and cut into medium sized pieces)
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Jaggery: 3/4th cup(or less broken into piece)
Juice of one medium sized lemon
Water: around 3 cups

Procedure

1. Soak coriander seeds and cumin seeds in water in a small bowl for half an hour.(add around 1/4 cup water or till the seeds are immersed)
2. After half an hour, drain water(don't throw the water) and grind the soaked seeds along with ginger in a mixer.
3. If needed add more water(drained water can be used for this) and grind until ginger and the seeds are ground well.
4. Strain the juice in a bowl.
5. Add more water(from the measured 3 cups) to the pup that remains in the strainer and strain again.
6. Do the same a couple of times more till the juice is completely removed from the pulp.
7. Add the rest of water(if you want it a bit strong reduce the water to 2 1/2 cups)
8. Add jaggery. After few minutes once the jaggery is dissolved completely, add lemon juice and stir once or twice and serve.

Note: This juice can be given to childern too(5 years and above). If giving only for adults, water and jaggery quantities can be decreased to get stronger juice/kashaayam. It can be refrigerated upto a day.
This is my entry to Sadhana and Muskaan's Home Remedies event.

Dairy free Sakkarai/Sweet Pongal

      

Sakkarai or sweet pongal is my all time favourite sweet dish. I have always believed that the milk and loads of ghee that goes into the pongal makes it such a divine dish, until I made a dairy free version of it for Pongal/Sankranthi festival. It was tastier and healthier than the ghee loaded version. I have been using a traditional pongal recipe from my grandmother which I made vegan. I was not sure about substituting ghee. (I used to add almost 1/4 cup of ghee for pongal.) Checked out Vaishali's blog and was suprised to see that she overall used just a tsp of oil, that too to fry the dry fruits. I used a tsp of vanaspati for the same.

Talking about Pongal festival, it is basically a harvest festival when we(especially the farmers) thank the sun god for giving a good harvest and to give many more prosperous years. It is a grand affair in villages. For city dwellers, it is basically making pongal and vada, buying sugar cane and turmeric and doing some puja at home.
The pongal recipe here does not use pressure cooker to cook the rice. Instead, rice and moong dal are cooked in a vessel(directly kept under the stove) by adding water and milk. Once it is cooked thoroughly, jaggery is added. Finally it is garnished with cashew and raisins and flavoured with cardomom powder.
Here is the recipe..

Ingredients for pongal to serve 8 adults for dessert
Raw rice: 1 cup(not basmati or atleast I have not tried with Basmati)
Yellow moong dal: 1/4 cup
Water: 2 cups or more
Almond milk: 2 cups(I used homemade, recipe below)
Jaggery: 2 1/2 cups
Vanaspathi/Vegetable Oil: 1 tsp(I used sunflower brand vanaspathi)
Cashew and raisins: 1 or 2 tsps of each
Cardomom powder: 1/ tsp

Procedure
1. Dry roast moong dal for 1 or 2 minutes and keep aside.
2. Wash rice and drain water(it is OK if some water remains)
3. Add rice and dal in a thick bottomed vessel(it is preferred to use thick bottomed narrow mouthed vessel. I used "vengala paanai", which translates to bronze pot)
4. Add 2 cups of water to the rice and keep the vessel in the stove and set the flame to medium.
5. While rice is getting cooked, stir occasionally so that it does not get stuck at the bottom.
6. Once the water is evaporated and the rice comes to semi solid consistency, add 2 cups of almond milk and allow to boil. 
7. Check if rice is cooked after around 15 to 20 minutes. If it is still not cooked and water content is less, add some more water, not more than 1/4 cup at a time.
8. Once rice is completely cooked(it would take around 30 minutes), add jaggery and stir well. 
9. When jaggery is melted, it again comes to a watery consistency.
10. Set the flame to low and allow it to boil for sometime.
11. After around 5 to 10 minutes, pongal would come to a semi solid consistency.
12. Put off the stove at this point.
13. For garnishing, heat vanaspati/oil in a pan. Add raisins. Once it becomes fluffy, add it to pongal. In the remaining vanaspati, add cashew. Once it turns golden brown, transfer it and the left over vanaspati to pongal.
14. Add cardomom powder to pongal and mix well.
15. Serve it warm.

Note
Jaggery should be added only after the rice is cooked completely. When a small quantity of rice is put in a bowl and pressed with the fingers, it should get mashed easily.
When the rice is completely cooked, it should be of semi solid consistency and not watery. Adding jaggery would make the rice a bit watery again. So before adding the jaggery if the rice is watery, heating for more time might not bring it to the right consistency. So, care should be taken not to add excess water when the rice is getting cooked. 

Recipe for almond milk
I first made almond milk at home for this Bread pudding recipe.
1. Soak half cup of almonds in 2 cups of water and keep in the fridge overnight.
2. The next day grind the almond in a mixer by adding 1/2 cup water(which was used for soaking) until it is smooth.
3. Add the rest of the water and grind just for few seconds.
4. Strain the blended almond and almond milk is ready.
For pongal, I soaked almonds for just 3 hours. I also did not strain the blended milk.

Do have a look at Vaishali's blog for pressure cooker version of dairy free pongal which is much easier to make than this tradional method.

Suyan for Saraswathi puja

Suyan is one of my favourite sweets though this is the first time I made them at home. I got the recipe from my mother. There are a couple of things to be taken care of while preparing the batter to get good suyans. The batter should be very smooth and the consistency should be such that one should be able to immerse the stuffing(purnam) in the batter and put them immediately in oil for frying. It should be neither too thin nor too thick. Here is the recipe to make around 15 medium sized suyans.

Ingredients for the batter
Urad Dal(full): 1/4 cup
Raw rice: 1/3 cup
Salt to taste

Ingredients for the stuffing
Shredded Coconut: 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
Jaggery: 1/2 cup(broken into small pieces)

Refined oil for deep frying

Procedure to make the batter
1. Wash both rice and dal and soak them together for atleast 1/2 an hour.
2. Grind the soaked rice and dal into a very smooth batter by adding very little water. (Check while grinding if water is not sufficient. Only then add water.)
3. Transfer the batter to a bowl, add salt and mix well. Kepp aside.

Procedure to make the stuffing
1. While the dal and rice are soaking, the stuffing can be prepared.
2. Mix coconut and jaggery in a kadai/pan.
3. keep the stove in medium flame and stir until the mixture comes together and the most of the water evaporates. Keep aside.

Procedure to make the suyan
1. Divide the stuffing into 15 parts/balls..
2. Heat oil in a kadai/pan
2. Dip each ball in the batter so that it gets coated on all sides with the batter.
4. Put it immediately in the oil. Do the same for some more balls.(as much as the pan can hold)
5. Fry till the suyan turns golden brown on both the sides.
6. Remove from the pan, drain excess oil and place it in dry bowl.
7. Repeat the same for the rest of the stuffing and batter.

Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi special post and Creamy semiya(vermicelli) payasam/kheer recipe

I know this post featuring Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi is a bit too late..But "Better late than never." :-)Lord Krishna and Lord Ganesha's b'days are celebrated as Janmashtami and chaturthi respectively by the Hindus. As with any other festival, one of the main attractions is the preparation of array of sweets and snacks which is offered as Neivedyam to the gods.

Janmashtami fell on a weekday and I was off to work. My MIL and visiting mother prepared the snacks..As they folowed the good old ladle and eye measurement, I do not have the cup measurements for the snacks that they prepared. So just sharing the photos and customs that we follow in celebrating the festival..

Janmashtami aka krishna jayanthi is generally celebrated in the evening as Lord Krishna is believed to be born in the midnight. We do the following things for the puja.

1. Put a kolam/rangoli at the entrance of the house. We make a paste out of rice flour and use it to put the kolam. Draw feet of kutty(small) krishna from the entrance till the puja room as if he is visiting our house.
2. In the puja room, decorate the idol or photo of Lord Krishna with garland and flowers.
3. Arrange the items prepared for Neivedyam in front of the idol. The items that are generally kept as Neivedyam are..
    Uppu Cheedai
    Vella Cheedai
    Murukku or thenkuzhal
    Appam
    Ulundu Vadai
    A small bowl of milk with a tbsp of butter put in it.
    Vella Aval or Aval payasam
These are supposedly kutty krishna's favourites. :-)
Along with these, we also keep the usual beetel leaves, paaku(forgot the English word), fruits and coconut. Light vilakku(diyas) in front of the idol.
Chant some slokas of Lord Vishnu and then finally do the aarthi.(deepa-aaradhanai)
Then ofcourse start eating the prasadams. :-)

Ganesh Chaturthi on the other hand was on a weekend. So I had all the time and energy for preparing the dishes. Ganesh chaturthi is one of the festivals that I lused to look forward to when I was a kid. On the day of the festival me and my father would go to the market in the morning to buy the Ganesha idol made freshly out of clay. Choosing the idol without any defect was a real fun. I mainly used to see if the small munjur(rat) at the bottom is in good shape and if one tusk in the idol is smaller than the other. Then we buy the flowers and other puja items and head back to home. I just used to enjoy this trip. Here are the thing that we do for the puja.

1. Buy the Ganesha Idol. There are some special flowers that we need to buy like erukampoo(a type of fower) and arugampul(a type of grass)
2. Put kolam at the entrance of the home and in the puja room using rice flour mixture. We call this maakolam.
3. Decorate the idol with flowers and also drape a blouse bit(vastram)
4. Arrange the neivedyam items in fron of the idol.
The items that are generally kept as Neivedyam are..
    Uppu Kozhakkatai(modakam)
    kadala paruppu kozhakkatai
    Vella poornam kozhalkkatai
    Payasam
    Ulundu Vadai
Kozhakkatais are Lord Ganesha's favourite.
Along with these, we also keep the usual beetel leaves, paaku(forgot the English word), bananas and coconut. Light vilakku(diyas) in front of the idol.
Chant some slokas of Lord Vishnu and then finally do the aarthi. This step is common for most of the puja.

I actually wanted to share the recipe for all the items. But as I missed the paper in which I noted down the measurements, just giving the recipe for semiya payasam. I got the recipe for the payasam from my cousin in Bombay. I have made semiya payasam so many times, but I have never ever got such a creamy and rich payasam before. Special thanks to her for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients to serve 4 adults

Semiya/Vermicelli: 1/2 cup
Milk: 2 cups
Condensed milk: 1/2 tin(200 gms)
Ghee: 1 tbsp
Cashew and raisins to garnish
Cardomom powder/Elaichi: 1/6 tsp

Procedure

1. Add ghee in a kdai/pan. Add the cashew and raisins. Once the cashew turns slightly brown and the raisins puuf up, simmer and remove them from the pan.
2. Add the semiya(if not already roasted) in the same pan and roast for a few minutes until it turns slightly brown.(around 3 minutes)
3. Boil the milk.
4. Pour the milk in the semiya pan and cook the semiya in low to medium flame stirring occasionally.
5. The semiya would absorb the milk and get cooked.(around 10 to 15 minutes)
6. Check if the semiya is cooked by pressing a few of them with the finger. If it gets mashed easily then it is cooked. While cooking if it becomes too thick add some more milk.
7. Once the semiya is cooked add the condensed milk and mix well. (Since it is made as Neivedyam, we can't taste now. Otherwise taste the payasam. If more sweet is required, add some more condensed milk.)
8. Garnish with cashew and raisins.
9. Serve hot or cold. While serving if it is too thick, add some more milk.

Semiya payasam cannot get richer and creamier than this.

And finally this is my entry to Purva's Festive Food event. She was kind enough to let me send in the entry one day late. Thanks Purva for that. I just loved this event and did not want to miss it.

Choco rava kesari and a dedication

My mother is celebrating her 60th B'day today. I thought of dedicating this post to her. My mother has inspired us(me and my sis) in more than one way. She(read as she and father) gave us the best education that we could get by putting us in the best school in my city.(Madurai) For a middle class family it was definitely an expensive affair then. She always gave the highest priority to studies. She used to work in the state government and managed both work and family very elegantly. She was well respected at the office and at home front too she managed to do everything a "stay at home" mom would do for her kids. In a nutshell she is the BEST and a guiding factor in whatever we do..

Here is something I wrote for a competition held at my company last year end during parent's day. I was selected for a memento for this effort :-), but unfortunately it was never given as almost during the sametime the company faced a crisis due to some shocking revelation by the then chairman regarding the financial condition of the company..

Just giving the last two lines of the original writeup to make the post short. :-)

Trinkets you bought, they are no more. Love you showered, they are memories. But the lessons you taught. That's us! Thank you mom and dad.

Here is also a choco kesari recipe that I made especially for my mom. My parents are off to a pilgrimage trip for a couple of days as my mother wished to visit few famous temples during her b'day. She feels, her faith in "amman" is what keeps her going. And I don't have any reason to not believe it. :-)

Once again Happy B'day to dear amma and wishing many many more happy returns of this day.

Coming to the recipe, I shall not take credit for the idea of using cocoa powder in kesari for I saw it in almostturkish blog, long time ago..It tasted really good with a nice chocolaty flavour.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

Ordinary Suji/Rava/Semolina: 1/4 cup
Water: 3/4 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder: 1 1/2 tbsp
Ghee: 4 tbsp
Cashew: a few for garnishing

Procedure

1. In a small bowl, add the cocoa powder and little water(2 to 3 tbsp) and mix well to form a liquid mixture. Keep aside.
1. Add a tbsp of ghee in a pan/kadai and add suji and cashew.
2. Roast on a low flame till suji turns golden brown. The cashew also would have got roasted nicely by this time.(My grandmom suggested me this method of adding cashew and suji together. This way even if we are not able to make out if suji is roasted or not, looking at the color of roasted cashew we can remove suji from heat.)
3. Tranfer the suji to a bowl.
4. In the same pan, add water and allow it to boil.
5. Once hot, add the roasted suji and mix. Keep on low to medium flame.
6. It would absorb the water immediately and would become semi solid. Do not add more water eventhough one might get tempted to do so..
7. Add the cocoa powder mixture and sugar and mix well.
8. Now the mixture would again become watery. Add ghee and mix on low to medium flame.
9. Put off the flame once the mixture again reaches semi solid state.
10. Allow it to cool a bit so that it thickens.

Note: Feel free to increase or reduce the quantity of sugar as per preferences. The cocoa powder can be omitted to make an authentic south indian kesari. The amount of water mentioned is for ordinary suji. It might vary for other types of suji though I have not tried.

Pudina Rice

When I was having a casual talk with my sister the other day, she said she prepared pudina rice for dinner using left over pudina chutney. The blogger instinct in me got the recipe from her immediately. I have always been impressed with my sister's presence of mind and agility in the kitchen. She finds and adopts new ways of easy cooking, but without compromising on the taste and flavour of the dish. Pudina rice is yet another easy and flavourful recipe from her. I don't mean to say that no one else has ever made pudina rice before..But I just loved her version of the recipe. Even if you don't have left over pudina chutney, you can try this recipe from scratch which I did. :-) Its worth it.

Ingredients to serve two adults

Cooked basmati rice that can serve 2 people(ordinary rice can also be used)
Pudina leaves: 2 cups(cleaned)
Onion: 2 medium size chopped
Dried Red chilli: 3
Channa dal: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 2 tsp
Coconut: 1 tbsp(grated)
Salt to taste
Refined oil: 2 tbsp

Procedure

1. Cool the cooked rice by sreading it in a wide bowl.
1. In a pan/kadai, add 1/2 tbsp oil. When it is hot, add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add channa dal, urad dal, coconut and red chily. Saute till the channa dal turn slightly brown and tranfer it a bowl.
2. In the same pan, add 1/2 tbsp oil and saute the pudina leaves. It will shrink and come to less than a handful.(around 2 to 3 minutes). Transfer to another bowl.
3. In the same pan add 1 tbsp oil and saute the onion until it is soft.(3 to 4 minutes)
4. Grind the dal mixture and pudina leaves by adding some water if needed..The consistency should be semi solid. It is OK if the ground mixture is a bit coarse.
5. Saute the ground mixture and onion in a pan for 2 minutes, add salt and mix well.
6. Once the rice is cooled down, add the pudina mixture and mix well but gently so that the rice does not break much.
7. Serve with onion raita. I generally add a tbsp of eggless mayonnaise to the raita. It make the raita tastier and creamier.

Note: My sister toldme to add 5 red chilys. Since we do not like it very spicy, or rather can't tolerate spicy food, I reduced the quantity to 3.

Dahi(yogurt/curd) Vada-A South Indian Snack

I got the recipe for dahi vada from my dear cousin who stays in Mumbai. She gave the procedure for setting the vada in the dahi assuming that I know how to make the vadas..We prepare the vadas for almost all of the south indian festivals and functions that we celebrate. Usually my MIL does the soaking and grinding and I fry the vadas..So going with the tradition, this time around too my MIL prepared the batter and I did the frying and setting the vadas in Dahi..I have heard that the softer the vadas, the more it "drinks" oil. We got to know from various sources how to make soft vadas that drinks less oil. The secret is to refrigerate the batter for 2 hours before making the vadas..It really works..Going to the recipe..

Ingredients

Urad Dal(full, deskinned): 2 cups
Green Chily: 2 + 1
Curry Leaves: around 10 leaves + 5 leaves
Ginger: 1/2 inch + 1/2 inch(deskinned)
Refined Oil for deep frying the vada
Yogurt/Curd: 4 cups
Chilly powder: 2 pinch
Chaat powder for sprinkling over the dahi vada(optional)
Boondhi for garnish(optional)
Finely chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Salt to taste

Procedure to make the vada batter to get around 15 medium sized vadas

1. Soak the urad dal atleast for 1/2 an hour.
2. After 1/2 an hour clean the dal with water(procedure is same as cleaning rice)
3. Drain excess water.
4. Keep 2 tbsp of soaked urad dal aside.
5. Grind the rest of the urad dal in a grinder without adding water.
6. When the dal is ground to around 50 %, add salt, around 10 curry leaves, 2 green chillys, 1/2 inch ginger and keep grinding.
7. After sometime when the batter becomes very thick, sprinkle very little water and keep grinding. Follow this every now and then until you get a smooth batter. The whole process took around 40 minutes in my grinder.
8. Take out the batter from the grinder, add the 2 tbsp of urad dal.
9. Chop the rest of the green chilly, curry leaves and ginger into very small pieces and add to the batter and mix well.
10. Refrigerate the batter for around 2 hours.

Procedure to make the vada

1. Add the required amount of oil for deep frying, in a kadai/pan and keep in medium flame.
2. Take out the batter from the fridge.
3. Take a small plastic cover(I used cleaned nandini milk cover), sprinkle some water over it and wipe it off. This is done to prevent the batter from sticking to the cover.
4. Take a medium sized ball of batter, put it on the cover with some force so that the batter flattens when falling on the plastic cover. If it does not flatten, press it with the fingers. Make a hole at the centre with the index finger.
5. Take the flattened batter carefully.(Keep the cover in a tilted position, take out the batter with the thumb from the side, tilt the cover more, simulataneously taking out the batter from the side until the whole of the batter is in the palm. The bottom side of the batter in the plastic cover would now be the top side in your palm.)
6. Another easy method is to take the batter in hand, flatten with the thumb, make a hole in the centre and put in the oil.
7. Once the oil is hot, add the flattened batter in the oil.(I added 4 at a time. It mainly depends upon the size of the kadai.)
8. Half way through, flip the vada so that it gets fried evenly on both the sides. Frying vadas in high flame might not cook the inside of the vadas properly. When the vadas turn golden brown in color and when the oil bubbles almost dies out, it is ready to be removed from the oil.
9. Take out from the oil(if needed remove excess oil) and put in the prepared dahi.(procedure below). Do the same for the rest of the batter.

Procedure to make the dahi

1. When the oil is heating, blend curd without adding water. (We do this using "matthu", a wooden stick with a round spiked bottom)
2. Pour the blended curd in a wide mouthed bowl.
3. Add chilly powder and salt and mix well.

Procedure to set the vada in dahi

1. As and when the vadas are fried, put them in the prepared dahi.
2. Once all the vadas are put, refrigerate the dahi vada.

Procedure to serve the dahi vada

1. Just before serving, take out the dahi vada from the fridge.
2. Place 2 to 3 vadas in individual small bowls. Add 2 tbsp of thick curd, sprinkle chat masala powder and salt, add the boondhi and finally garnish with coriander.
3. Serve immediately.

Note: Chopped onion can be added to the batter to get softer vadas. A little (1 or 2 tbsp) rice flour can be added to the batter to get crispier vadas. I guess, if grinder is not there, batter can be prepared using mixer, but the vadas might not be that soft.

This is my entry to EC's WYF-Fried Snacks event. Raks had posted the recipe for vada few days back with very good photos including step by step procedure.

Rice flour and tamarind upma(Puli Upma)-A family favourite

We wanted to munch something while watching the wimbledon finals in the evening. Did not feel like making any deep fried item. Last week my mother had given me the recipe for rice flour and tamarind upma(puli upma), a family favourite since my childhood. I made it the first time and it came out really well. My husband liked it very much and it got over even before the match started. :-)

Ingredients to serve 2 adults

Rice flour: 1 cup
Tamarind juice: a little more than 1/4th cup
Mor molagai(chily soaked in curd and sun dried): 2 to 3
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Channa dal: 1 tbsp
Urad dal(split): 1 tbsp
Asofoetida: a pinch
Refined Oil: around 4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. In a bowl mix rice flour, tamarind juice, asofoetida and salt. The mixture should be free of lumps and consistency should be semi soild.
2. In a pan add 4 tbsp oil. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds. When it splutters add urad dal. channa dal and the chillys.
3. Once the dals turn light brown, keep the flame in medium and add the flour mixture and keep stirring.(If not stirred, the mixture gets stuck at the bottom)
4. The Mixture would come togehter like a ball.
5. At this stage pat the mixture with a flat ladle, holding it vertically. Keep doing this till the mixture dries up and separates out and becomes like upma.(around 10 minutes)
6. Remove from heat and serve.

Note: I did not use a non stick pan. If using non stick pan, I think too much of stirring is not needed. If not using mor molagais, ordinary red chilly can be used, but the quantity can be reduced to half. The finished upma can be served by sprinkling some sugar on top.

Pongal-Sambar: A South Indian breakfast

Pongal and sambar has been a favourite at our home since my childhood. My mother makes a kind of sambar that equals hotel sambar(that we get in our native city) in taste. The best part of this sambar is that it does not require any seasoning and it is oil free..Can you believe it!!!Yet it just tastes great and truly mouth watering.

Yes, we need to add around 3 tbsps of ghee and oil to make the pongal. But considering the fact that the pongal that is made with the above said quantity of oil and ghee serves 7 adults, I think its OK.

So here is the recipe for one of the most famous South Indian breakfasts.

Ingredients for pongal that serves 7 adults

Rice: 450 gms
Moong dal: 150 gms
Water: 1/2 cup more water for every cup of rice that we use generally to cook rice.
Pepper: 1 1/2 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Refined Oil: 3 tbsp
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Cashew: 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Coarsely grind pepper and cumin together.
2. Wash rice and moong dal and pressure cook. Allow 4 whistles.
3. Fry cashew in a tbsp of ghee.
4. After frying cashew, in the remaining ghee, fry cumin and pepper powder.(just for 30 seconds)If ghee is not enough to grind the powder, add some more.
5. Remove rice from pressure cooker.
6. Add oil, remaining ghee, salt, fried powder and cashew to the cooked rice and mix well.

"Breakfasty" Pongal is ready

Note: As per cup measurements, for 1 cup of rice, 1/4th cup of moong dal has to be taken.

Ingredients for sambar

Tuvar Dal: 150 gms
Mixed vegetables: 250 gms(can use onion, carrots, pumpkin, tomato, brinjal etc)
Tamarind: 10 gms
Sambar powder: 1/2 tsp(I use MTR sambar powder)
Masala powder: 1/4th tsp(I use MTR masala powder)
Besan/gram flour: 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Cook the vegetables and tuvar dal(I generally pressure cook by putting vegetables in one vessel and tuvar dal in the other one and allowing 2 whistles)
2. Soak tamarind in hot water. Once it is bit cooled, extract juice from tamarind.
3. In a pan/kadai, add the cooked vegetables.(If there is water left in the vegetables after cooking, add that too in the pan.)
4. Add tamarind juice, salt and sambar powder and allow it to boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.(around 10 to 15 minutes)
5. Mash boiled tuvar dal with the back of a ladle. If it is very thick add some water.
6. Pour the tuvar dal mixture in the pan and allow it to boil.(around 5 minutes) The sambar can be of thin consistency at this point of time.
7. In a small bowl, mix besan with a tablespoon of sambar and pour back into the pan.
8. Mix well and allow to boil for 2 minutes.
9. Add garam masala, mix well and put off the stove.

Oil free tasty sambar is ready.

Note: This sambar is generally eaten with pongal, idli or vada. To eat with rice, generally this sambar is made.

Akkaravadisal- a delectable sweet with rice, sugar and milk

This is one of my favourite sweets and it is one of my grand mother's specialities. I noted down the recipe in my diary long back. I generally make this on special occasions. This is one of my grnadmother's recipes that I would never want to loose and hence blogging it.

This is how my grandmother makes akkaravadisal...

Ingredients that serves 2 spoonfulls for 5 adults

Rice: 70 gms
Sugar: 200 gms
Milk: 200 ml(boiled)
Water: 100 ml
Ghee: 4 1/2 tbsp
Cashew: few pieces(around 10)
Dried grapes: around 10
Orange color: a pinch

Procedure

1. Pressure cook rice by adding milk and water.Allow 4 whistles.
2. In the meantime, fry cashew and dried grapes in 1 tbsp ghee one after the other.
3. Once the rice is cooked, mash it with the back of a laddle.
4. In a pan/kadai, add sugar, cooked rice, color and 3 tbsp ghee and keep in medium flame.
5. Keep stirring slowly, until akkaravadisal starts leaving the sides of the pan.(around 6 to 7 minutes)
6. Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp ghee and mix well. Put off the stove.
7. Garnish with fried cashew and dried grapes.

Delicious akkaravadisal is ready.

Note: My grandmother gave the measurements in terms of ratio which I have converted into gms. In terms of ratio, for 1 measure of rice, we would need 2 1/2 measures of milk, 2 measures of water and 3 measures of sugar.

Stirring is done only to avoid burning/sticking at the bottom. So it need not be done very hard.

I am sending this recipe to Mithai Mela event hosted by Srivalli.

Puri masala

I guess potato is an universal favourite liked by almost everybody and I am no exception to it.My mother has been making this aloo masala side dish for puri, since our childhood. We just used to relish it every time she prepared it. Only this recipe came to my mind when I saw EC's event.

So, here is the recipe for the super easy and tasty puri masala.

Ingredients that serves 4 adults

Potato: 500 gm(boiled, peeled and cut into medium sized cubes.)
Onion: 250 gms(chopped)
Water: 1 cup or as required
Turmeric: a pinch
Besan: 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder: Less than 1/4th tsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing

For seasoning

Mustard: Less than 1/2 tsp
Channa dal: 1 tbsp
Refined Oil: 3 tbsp
Green chily: 2 long pieces

Procedure

1. In a pan/kadai, add oil. Once it is hot, add mustard. When the mustard splutters, add channa dal and gree chily and stir.
2. Once the channa dal turn slightly brown, add the chopped onion and saute.
3. Keep in medium flame. Allow the onion to cook well in the oil. Stir occasionally.(around 5 minutes)
4. Add water until the onion is immersed and stir well.Let the onion get cooked well.(around 10 minutes.)
5. Add the boiled potatoes and stir well.
6. In a separate bowl, mix besan with water until lumps are removed.
7. Add this to potato onion mixture in the kadai and stir well.
8. Let it be in the stove for around 5 to minutes or until the raw smell of besan goes off.
9. Add garam masala powder and mix well.
10. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This masala can be eaten with puri. This is my entry to EC's WYF: Side dish event.

Rava(semolina) pongal

I had been to my native place during ugadi long weekend. I was asking my grandmother for some recipes. She not only gave this recipe for rava pongal but also prepared it for me. I guess this is the height of affection that one can show considering her old age.

I made the pongal for today's breakfast. I am also dedicating this pongal to my ever lovable grandmother whom we affectionately call "ammai".

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients that serves 5 adults

Semolina/Suji(ravai in Tamil): 250 gms
Water: 900 ml (basically for one cup of suji, 3 cups of water is required)
Moong dal(split): 100 gms
Cashew: 10 to 15 pieces
Ghee: 4 to 5 tbsp
Pepper and Cumin seeds: (in the ratio of 3:1. ie: for three tbsps of pepper, take 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and grind them coarsely together)For this recipe 1 to 1-1/2tbsp corsely ground pepper-cumin powder is required.
Salt to taste
Curry leaves

Procedure

1. Pressure cook moong dal by adding the required water.
2. In a pan/kadai add 2 tbsp ghee and add suji. Fry till golden brown(stir every now and then)
3. In the meanwhile, boil water in a bowl.
4. Once the suji is golden brown, add the boiling water and keep stirring. Add salt.
5. Once the water is absorbed(it will be in a semi-solid state) add the cooked moong dal and mix well. Add a tbsp of ghee.(optional)
6. Remove from heat.
7. In a small kadai add a tbsp of ghee. Once it is hot, add the cashew and fry till golden brown.
8. Put the fried cashew in the pongal.
9. In the same small kadai, add some more ghee(1 tbsp), add the pepper-cumin powder and curry leaves. Just fry for few seconds and add this also to the pongal.
10. Mix the pongal well.

Tasty rava pongal is ready.It can be had with coconut chutney or as it is.

Note: The left over pepper-cumin powder can be used for rasam.

Panakam(spicy jaggery water)

We make panakam on Ram Navami day. Lord Rama's b'day is celebrated as Ram Navami during the month of April(panguni in Tamil) on punar poosam nakshatra on the ninth day after amavasya(ammavasai). In South, panakam, neer more and cucumber salad with moong dal(kosmalli) are prepared and offered to god as neivedyam.

The dry ginger powder added to it gives it a nice spicy touch. Its also very easy to make.

I just love this drink.My mother made this on Ram Navami day this friday which I am documenting here.

Ingredients

Jaggery: 200gms
Water: 600 litres
Dry ginger powder(chukku podi in Tamil): 1 tbsp
Elaichi: 10 (crushed)
Juice of half lemon

Procedure

1. Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl. Stir for sometime so that the jaggery dissolves in water.
2. Serve once the jaggery completely dissolves.

It can be refrigerated and had cold.

Raw Mango pachadi(Raw mango in jaggery)

This is one of the items prepared during special occasions like marriage or any other traditional function and during some festivals like Tamil New Year.

This being a traditional dish, it goes without saying that my mother prepares the pachadi superbly well in an authentic way that has the right amount of sourness from the raw mango and sweetness from the jaggery.

I just can't stop myself from documenting this recipe as this is my husband's favourite dish and he does not need an occasion to have this. So, my mother prepared the pachadi today.

Ingredients

Raw mango: 1 mango or 300 gms(cut into big flat pieces as shown in the picture. Peeling the skin is optional. My mother does not peel the skin)
Jaggery(vellam in Tamil): 300 gms(break jaggery into small pieces.
Green chily: 2 long
Turmeric: a pinch
Red chily: 1 long
Ghee: 1 tsp
Mustard: for seasoning
Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Pressure cook mango by adding some water(till the mango pieces are immersed half) and turmeric.
2. In a pan/kadai, add ghee. Once it is hot, add mustard. When the mustard splutters add red chily.
3. Add jaggery and little water(around 3 to 4 tbsp).
4. Keep in low flame.
5. Stir until the jaggery dissolves.(around 5 to 10 minutes).
6. Add the cooked mango and salt. Boil for around 10 minutes or until the consistency becomes somewhat thick. Remove from heat.

Mouthwatering mango pachadi is ready.

Note: We add Neem flower(veppampoo in Tamil) to this pachadi to get a little bitter taste when we prepare it for the Tamil New Year. This pachadi which has sweet, bitter and sour tastes depicts life that also has bitter and sweet moments.

Hot, sweet and sour Tomato thokku

My aunty made this extremely versatile and delicious tomato thokku when she visited me a year ago. I decided to make this thokku when I saw the FIL-Tomato event hosted by Sanghi.

Luckily I had a lot of tomatoes too. I called my aunty immediately, got the recipe and prepared the thokku. It came out very tasty. It was perfect..Hot, sweet and sour. It is so versatile that it can be eaten with bread, roti or even rice.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Tomato: 600gms
Red chily: 10 long
Fenugreek seeds: 10 seeds
Vegetable Oil: 4 tbsp
Gingely oil: 2 tbsp
mustard seeds: 1/4 tsp

Procedure

1. Soak red chily, fenugreek seeds and asofoetida in water(pour water till the chily immerses.) for 10 minutes.
2. Cut tomatoes into big pieces.
3. In a mixer, grind the soaked items. Once the chillies are ground well, add the tomatoes and grind tomatoes are pureed.(If there are one or two tomato lumps, its OK.It will get cooked in the pan later.
4. In a sauce pan/kadai, add vegetable oil. When it is hot add mustard. Once it splutters pur the tomato puree and mix well.
5. Keep in medium flame and cover with a lid. (Don't forget to close with a lid. Otherwise, it will splutter all over the wall.)
6. Open the lid and stir once in a while.
7. Let it be in the stove for around 25 minutes or till it comes to thokku consistency.(water in tomato puree should evaporated completely and the puree should start leaving the sides of the pan)
8. Now add the gingelly oil and jaggery and mix well.
9. Remove from stove.
10. Allow it to cool. Store in an air tight container.It can be stored for 2 weeks if kept in fridge.

It can be eaten with bread, rice or roti.

Note:I have added jaggery because we like the thokku to be sweet. If one does not want it to be sweet, jaggery need not be added.. Also based on one's spice level, red chilly can be increased or decreased. Mine is not very spicy.

This is a recipe which my aunty made with a lot of love for us. I made this dish with the same love for my family and also sending it to Sanghi's FIL-Tomato event.

Sambar-Tamil Nadu style

I feel like chronicling anything that my mother prepares. It has a unique taste and aroma that is unparralleled. (I guess, everybody feels the same about their mother's cooking)

Today, I am going to post two of the very basic lunch items of any South Indian(especially tamil nadu) home, namely sambar and rasam. When I make these items, I forget the proportions sometimes. So I am documenting the recipe here so that I can turn back to it anytime I want.

This sambar is to be eaten with rice. My mother also makes a different variety of sambar(exactly like the hotel sambar) to be eaten with idli/dosa/pongal. I will post the recipe for this sambar, next time she makes it.

Generally we put atleast one vegetable in sambar. There are different versions of sambar, where a lot many vegetables are used instead of just one or instead of sambar powder, a paste made of coconut, red chilly and gram dal is used. The recipe I am posting here is a very basic version.

Ingredients that serves 4 adults

Tamarind: lemon size ball(around 10 gms)
Tuvar Dal: 150 gms
Sambar powder: 1 1/2 tsp(I use MTR sambar powder)
Vegetable: I used white pumpkin this time. Other vegetables that can be used are ladies finger, brinjal, carrot, raddish, yellow pumpkin and the list goes on.(See Note below)
Salt: to taste

Seasoning

Vegetable Oil or Ginelly oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 10 seeds
Curry leaves: 10 leaves
Tomato: 1 medium size
Green chily: 1 long

Procedure

1. Put tamarind in a bowl and add hot water to it till the tamarind immerses.Allow it to soak in water for sometime.(till you start preparing the sambar)
2. In the meantime, pressure cook dal by adding around 400 litres of water. (Allow 2 whistles)
3. When the dal is cooked, extract juice from tamarind(150 to 200 gms) and keep aside.
4. In a pan/kadai, add oil. When it is hot, add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add fenugreek seeds, tomato, green chily and curry leaves.
5. Saute for a minute and pour tamarind juice.
6. Add sambar powder and salt. Stir so that everthing is mixed together. Allow it to boil. Once it is boiled, simmer and keep in the stove for 10 minutes.
7. Add the cooked dal and stir. If the sambar is very thick, some water can be added. Heat in high flame for 2 minutes and put off the stove.

Delicious sambar is ready.

Note: I added pumkin along with the dal for cooking. But vegetables that gets mushy when pressure cooked can be directly put along with the seasoning ingredients and sauted. They will get cooked in tamarind water.

Rasam recipe would follow soon.

Brinjal Rice/Vangi bhath

This is one of my mother's authentic recipes for variety rice, liked by everybody who tastes it.

I would definitely not classify this recipe as a very healthy one as she uses a lot of oil. When I protest against her for using so much of oil, she reverts back saying "If you don't eat such stuff at this age, when will you?". I know its not a very good argument, but I generally give up as I too want to savour her delicious food. Once she goes back to her native, she will also follow a strict diet plan as both my parents have high BP and she is diabetic too..I too go back to my usual sambar, rasam, vegetable curry routine devoid of coconut or ghee with just 1/2 tsp of oil going into the items in the name of seasoning. Food can't become healthier than this...

So, I have decided to relish whatever she makes for these 2 months that she is going to be here in Bangalore..

Here is the recipe for brinjal rice loved by everybody at home..

Ingredients that serves 4

Brinjal: 8 pieces cut into small cubes
Gingely oil: 6 tbsp
Turmeric: a pinch

For grinding

grated Coconut: 4 tbsp
Sunflower oil: 1 tbsp
Bengal gram/channa dal: 2 tbsp
Urad dal split: 1 tbsp
Tuvar Dal: 1 tbsp
Red chily: 5 long pieces or according to your spice tolerance level.
Tamarind: small lemon size ball(around 10 gms)
Asofoetida: a pinch

Procedure

1. Add sunflower oil in a sauce pan. Once it is hot add all the grinding ingredients except for tamarind and fry until the dal becomes light brown in color. Allow it cool(10 minutes)
2. Grind the above roasted ingredients, tamarind and salt in a mixer until the chillies are ground well.(Add water if needed and the final mixture should be coarse)
3. Add gingelly oil in a pan. Add bengal gram and stir.Once the gram turns slightly brown add the cut brinjal and turmeric and stir once.
4. Keep in medium flame, close the pan with a lid. Stir occasionally so that the brinjal does not get burnt.It might take around 15to 20 minutes for the brinjal to cook completely. You can test by putting one piece of brinjal in a plate and pressing it with your finger. If it easily crushes, its cooked.
5. Add ground powder to the vegatable and mix well. Stir for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove from heat.
6. Mix this well with cooked rice. If the salt is less, add some more at this stage. 7. If its very spicy, add some ghee and mix well.

Spicy and tasty brinjal rice is ready.

It can be served with tomato raita. (cut tomato into small pieces and add some yogurt and salt to it.Season it with mustard and a red chilli)

This is my entry to Colors of Taste - Powders: Flavored Rice by Smitha of Kadumanga

Mother's south indian style dal

This is another of my mother's speciality. This is not a typical North Indian dal. She uses some south indian ingredients which gives it a unique taste and aroma.

It is one of the must try recipes and its also very easy to make.

Ingredients 

Moong dal: 200 gms(split green gram which will be yellow in color after removing the skin)
Water: around 350 litres(or how much ever is needed to cook the dal in the pressure cooker)
Tomato: 4 medium size, cut into four pieces
Green chily: 2 long cut into two pieces
Grated coconut: 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric: a pinch

For seasoning

Ghee: 1 tbsp
Mustard: 1/4 tsp
Urad Dal: 1/4 tsp

Procedure

1. Pressure cook dal and tomato.(Add a pich of turmeric too.) Allow 2 whistles.
2. Grind green chily, coconut and cumin in a mixer, to a smooth paste.
3. Remove cooked dal from cooker and pour it in a sauce pan and keep on a stove. 4. Add the ground mixture and stir so that it mixes well with the dal.
5. Keep on medium flame for few minutes. (5 minutes)
6. Remove from stove.

For seasoning

1. In a small pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee.
2. Once it is hot, add mustard. When it splutters add urad dal.
3. Add this to the dal and mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Mouthwatering dal is ready..